Orlando City at New York City FC: Lineups, Predictions, and More
Orlando City travels to the Big Apple for a rematch of their inaugural MLS game. Yankee Stadium will host a 2:30 PM matchup that has major Eastern Conference playoff implications. New York City finds themselves just 3 points out of a playoff position and a win against the Lions would vault them above Orlando City in the conference table.
New York City FC, while losers in their last league match, are fresh off the introduction of Andrea Pirlo and look to get all three of their big name designated players onto the field at the same time. Whether or not Frank Lampard is fit to join Pirlo and David Villa is yet to be determined. New York City coach Jason Kreis has already stated he expects Pirlo to get work, but the extent of that work isn’t expected to be a full 90 minutes.
“It’ll be slightly different as there won’t be that euphoria of opening day and their team will be a lot different from when we first played each other,” Said head coach Adrian Heath. “Obviously if Lampard and Pirlo play, it makes a huge difference in terms of their experience and quality on the field. But, as I said, we can’t control what they can do, we can only just try and get our players in the right frame of mind to go and play.”
New York City FC generally plays a version of the 4–4–2 as long as they have 2 capable strikers available. Coach Jason Kreis is known for his diamond formation but he might not have the available players to run that system, so expect some sort of 4–4–2, regardless. However, they will be without U.S. international, Mix Diskerud, which is a big bonus for Orlando City. Diskerud scored against Orlando City during the inaugural game at the Citrus Bowl.
New York City has plenty of weaknesses to exploit, but perhaps their greatest vulnerability is from wide players with speed capable of latching onto through balls. Orlando City’s Carlos Rivas is one the fastest players in MLS and this just happens to be his specialty. This appears to be the perfect matchup for the young, Colombian DP to finally score his first MLS goal. At the very least, Rivas will be a constant threat down the left flank and should be able to provide plenty of service from wide areas. With the short field at Yankee Stadium, there is no excuse for whoever plays right mid to not be providing an extra body at the far post to help finish one of the many expected crosses. Adrian Heath has spoke time and time again about numbers in the box but the message rarely gets through. If Orlando City wants to get back to the good form they enjoyed in June, the midfielders need to be willing to take chances and get up the field.
As for defending NYCFC, Rafael Ramos and Darwin Cerén will be responsible for slowing down the attack. NYC favors the left side much like Orlando City does, and it’s no surprise that David Villa is usually the left sided striker. If Cerén and his holding midfield partner can disrupt the service into Villa then Orlando City can largely neutralize NYC’s greatest threat.
Some more good news for the Lions is that NYC’s current roster is a mess. They are struggling with the injury bug and have two starters, CB Jason Hernandez and CM Ned Grabavoy, missing the game due to suspension. Here is our best guess at NYCFC’s lineup.
New York City FC Predicted Lineup
Orlando City Predicted Lineup
The only lineup question along the back line appears to be who will start at left back. Luke Boden started midweek against Chicago and left a lot to be desired. You could see Adrian Heath insert Corey Ashe into the lineup on Sunday and rotate these two players until one of them wins the starting job outright. Sean St. Ledger, Aurélien Collin and Rafael Ramos will fill out the rest of the defense and as usual will be in front of Tally Hall.
The midfield is where it gets interesting this week. Cristian Higuita is suspended due to yellow card accumulation, so Heath needs to choose a holding partner for Darwin Cerén. The two most likely options are Lewis Neal and Servando Carrasco. Lewis Neal has played outstanding when given the chance in a holding role and would be our favored choice to start. However, if Heath chooses to move Neal up to play right mid, that leaves Carrasco as the only realistic option to help anchor the midfield. That being said, Neal “should” be the choice which would leave your three obvious selections of Carlos Rivas, Kaká, and Eric Avila in attacking midfield.
The striker position is another toss up, and quite frankly, this match is just screaming for Pedro Ribeiro. With New York City struggling with wide play and crosses into the box, 6'4 Pedro Ribeiro would seem like the perfect option up top. The shorter field even makes Ribeiro’s lack of pace, less of a liability. Unfortunately, Ribeiro played 84 minutes on Wednesday in the much more physically demanding position of left mid, so Heath might opt for Cyle Larin. Larin also played on Wednesday, but he’s younger and fresher and Heath clearly backs him even though he’s a frustrating player to watch.
Score Predictions:
(Ron)Draw 2–2: Orlando City is still in a funk, and they need a signature moment to help spark this team again. I think this is the match that the Lions form finally starts to turn around but I doubt it’s through a victory. I expect NYCFC to take the lead early behind a packed and energetic crowd. Orlando City will equalize through Kaká, but will find themselves down again. However, some late match heroics by the substitute striker help earn Orlando City a vital point on the road. It will be the moral victory the Lions sorely needed to help dig out of their mid-season rut.
(Shaun) Draw 1–1: Orlando City really needs a result this week to keep pace in the crowded East. It seems as though the deck is stacked against them with a short week and poor form coming into the matchup. The Lions strike first with a Carlos Rivas goal and hold off the home side until a late David Villa equalizer. Adrian Heath watches from the Derick Jeter suite as his team takes one point back to Orlando.
Basics
ORLANDO CITY SC at New York City FC
Yankee Stadium, Bronx, New York
July 26, 2015 | MLS Match Week 21
2:30 p.m.
Suspended
ORL-Cristian Higuita (Yellow Card Accumulation)
NYC-Jason Hernandez (Yellow Card Accumulation)
NYC-Ned Grabavoy (Red Card)
Injuries
Orlando City SC
OUT: M Kevin Molino (torn ACL)
OUT: F Martin Paterson (knee injury) *although listed on the MLS injury report, is expected to be available Sunday.
OUT: M Tony Cascio (sore back)
OUT: M Brek Shea (sports hernia)
OUT: M Harrison Heath (knee)
New York City FC
OUT: D George John (knee)
OUT: F Tony Taylor (ACL)
M Frank Lampard (calf)
D Connor Brandt (right adductor)
M Javier Calle (quad)
M Sebastian Velasquez (quad)
Where to Watch
TV: Fox Sports 1
Streaming: MLS Live, Fox Sports GO
